


Despite Everything, It's Still [Y]ou

by Kiloueka



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Sad, feral androids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 03:25:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17358035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiloueka/pseuds/Kiloueka
Summary: What if 9S had clung to his love for 2B just a little harder? What if his grizzly end was filled with peace instead of hatred and rage?





	Despite Everything, It's Still [Y]ou

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeetTheTank](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeetTheTank/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Wailing and Gnas[H]ing of Teeth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12265770) by [MeetTheTank](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeetTheTank/pseuds/MeetTheTank). 



> Secret Santa fic for MeetTheTank where I rewrote the ending of Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth (and made her cry)

She looked at the snarling beast before her. The wild animal that was once her partner some unknown time ago, now broken and corrupted almost to the point of being completely unrecognizable. There was no way he wasn't in immense pain... and there was no way he would have willingly killed an innocent Android like that... let alone _eat_ him.

It's best to just put it...him, out of his misery.

The thing that was 9S tenses up, the visible corded muscles in its biceps shifting grotesquely. 2B's eyes track each subtle, unnatural movement it makes. In a flash of wild movements it lunges at her, but this time she's prepared. She lands a quick but powerful strike with the hilt of Virtuous Contract in the creature's face as it leaps at her. The blinding white of its one eye is snuffed out, the optic shattered by the force of her blow. Its corrupt roar is cut off by a pathetic yelp, its body crashing into the ground nearby and skidding to a stop a few feet away from 2B. Dimly, she registers the splashes of black that stain the white on her gloves. It stings where it seeps through the fabric and touches her skin.

With renewed determination, she strides over to the collapsed android, her sword poised to sever its head from its neck in one quick motion. It seems to claw at its face, though it doesn't make a sound. One clawed hand drags the ruined blindfold from its face-

A single untouched eye, with the remnants of synthetic skin surrounding it, stares back at her. Though it's color is a dull solid grey, devoid of life, she sees not predatory hunger, but _fear._

Not a simple animalistic fear, but a deep, knowing fear that told of a complete understanding of the morbid situation. He pulled back slightly, jaw quivering and grey eye flicking between her raised sword and her face.

“Two...be...”

His voice is warped, mechanical, almost inhuman save for the thick feeling of terror leaking out.

“Nine...Sss...” She stuttered, releasing the sword as her arm fell to the side, letting it clatter loudly on the ancient floor. The harsh sound caused 9S to jump and scramble back slightly before his hand slipped on the slick tiles and sent him crashing down with a dull thud.

2B's body jerked forward as if controlled by an outside force and she found herself on her knees beside the whimpering boy. She held out her hand and he jerked back even further.

“What... _happened_ to you?” She whispered.

His body shook violently as he struggled to right himself. He groaned as a series of vicious coughs wracked his entire body, spraying foul-smelling slime onto the floor. The wild animalistic strength and grace he displayed from not one minute ago had been completely snuffed out and what was left was a quivering mess cowering on the cold, hard, ground. The raging fire inside him extinguished in an instant.

“I...” He rasped and went silent. 2B waited tensely beside him, mind racing through all of her past kills to see where she went wrong. This was impossible, she always made sure his body was disposed of. Was he killed by another E-unit? Or...

She gasped as one memory flickered in her mind. No. Not always... The one time she didn't make sure...

“F-fell...” He coughed. “N-no... y-y-ou push... pushed m-me.” A low, staticy whine escaped his throat.

“Why?” He whimpered. “I... you...” A pause as his head drooped and eye flicked to the floor. “Oh... r-righ...t....” He looked back into her eyes.

“2...E...”

She cringed as that name hit her and her gut boiled and twisted as if invisible claws dug into her stomach. But his warped voice betrayed no hatred or anger... only a deep, heavy sadness.

“H-had... to...”

She nodded stiffly, pulling her hand back and holding it against her stomach. 9S' one eye flashed a look of concern as she retreated and he suddenly lurched forward, grasping at her shirt and pressing his head to her shoulder.

“W-wait! D-don't lea... I... I'm...”

She couldn't move, she could barely breathe. He should hate her, he should be trying to kill her for what she did to him, but instead, he's curling into her for _comfort_. Gripping onto her clothes with those broken hands and pulling her back toward him.

With trepidation, she found herself placing a hand on an unmarred spot on his back. 9S flinched and pulled back for just a fraction of a second before pushing back against her hand, soaking in the contact. She brushed her fingers against his back lightly and tenderly, as if pressing down even a tiny bit more would shatter him.

How was he even _alive_ at this point? So much of his body was corroded away and much of the hardware that kept him alive and moving was straight up missing. What was left was gummed up with the putrid black sludge that leaked from every wound on his body. It was unlikely anything could be salvaged; instead they would have to scrap the whole body and simply upload his consciousness data into a new one...

Except...

She still had to kill him.

Even if Command never found out he survived, there was no way he was going to last much longer in this condition. Killing him now would be merciful... but...

After everything that happened between then and now... she couldn't just finish him off just like that. Not again, not after everything she caused him...

But the longer she waited...

The harder it would be to finally finish the job...

She flashed a glance back at her sword and slowly slid her hand toward the hilt. While his guard was down she could... she could...

“P-plea...se...” He whimpered, tightening his grip. “No...t y-yet...”

Her hand stopped and she sat there frozen once again...

“Wh...what do you want me to do?"

He went silent aside from the creaking groans and sizzling electrical noises his body emitted. 2B wasn't sure if he even heard her or if he was just taking so long to muster the energy for a response.

“Bath.” He finally mumbled.  
“Wh-what?”

“F-feel... gross... dirt...”

“You want me to... clean you?”

He nodded slightly.

“I... All right.” She whispered, tightening her grip on his back ever-so-slightly. Her other hand came around and slid behind his knees and with great care she lifted his broken body up, carefully avoiding the angry shards of metal protruding from his back. She stumbled to her feet, noting how light his body was compared to her current partner. His head lolled to the side and came to rest on her shoulder and he squeezed his eyes shut as his warped frame was stretched and shifted.

After a brief pause, she slowly made her way out of the dark building, calculating each step before she took it so as not to jostle his frame any more than she had to.

The seemingly endless flow of dark, thick sludge burned as it seeped into the cuts on her arms. She closed her eyes tightly for a brief moment, forcing her mind away from the sting. Instead, she focused on the shallow, rattling breathing coming from the body in her arms.

As the dark building was slowly flooded with the dappled light of the forest, 9S slowly lifted his head to study the stiff expression on 2B's face. The blood on her split lip had long since dried and the nanomachines were busy mending the cut. He raised his broken hand and lightly brushed the edges of the wound, causing 2B to flinch slightly at the sensation.

“Was... m-me?”

“It's fine.” She mumbled, averting her gaze. His hand lingered there for a moment longer and the twisting in her gut grew stronger until she let out a small, forced cough.

“D-do you remember anything?”

He tilted his head slightly, letting out a questioning sound as he let his hand drop back to his chest.

“After... what happened... and how you survived.” She added.

9S looked ahead at the blinding green of the forest and thought for a long moment.

“No... I...” He let out a sharp exhale and shook his head. “J-jus... fla-sh-shes...”

“Oh.” 2B paused again. Thankfully, the shopping center wasn't far from a series of shallow streams in the ancient Forest Kingdom. They were almost there, just a small hill between them and the water.

“Do you h-hate me?”

Silence, then... “N-no... nev-ver.” He responded tensely. Something about his tone unnerved 2B; she watched him silently as his expression twisted and dark tears welled in the corner of his eyes.

“I c-c-couldn't-t... I...” He choked.

“Why d-didn' yo-u come ba-ack f' me?” His voice was frail and strained and he met her gaze with an expression that tore at her heart.

“I...” Her feet crunched in the fine gravel on the beach. She went silent for a moment and carefully laid him down on a flattish rock at the edge of the water. She pulled a small knife from her inventory and began carefully cutting the spikes and the remains of his shirt away and let it fall to the ground, bringing trails of slime down with it.

“The Commander...” She sighed, blinking away another wave of fresh tears. She wiped them with the last bit of clean cloth on her sleeve and began coating the exposed wiring with staunching gel. The water was likely going to be a shock on his systems, so she hoped the quick patch would help lessen it at least a little.

“She said she was sending a cleanup crew.” Another sigh and a stiff sob.

“And I... did... I was... I didn't want to... ugh.” She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled sharply.

“I was afraid... of what I might find.”

“Oh...” 9S breathed.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don-n't b-be... 't'won't cha-ange n'thin.”

“...I know...” She walked into the shallow stream and sat down, slowly submerging 9S in the lukewarm water. He let out small sounds of strain as the water flooded through his chest and around his injuries, and a wave of panic washed through them both as a long trail of blackish liquid began flowing down the stream and mixing with the pure forest water.

“I fucked up...” She finally said after freeing some tangled brambles from his hair. “I was afraid and I fucked up and you suffered for it.”

9S was silent, save for his rattling breathing. 2B slowly rocked him back and forth in the water, washing more and more of the various unknown substances clinging thickly on and inside his body. She readjusted him until he was leaning up against her, freeing her hand to begin scrubbing more grime that clung tighter to his body. Her eyes burned as the humid air flooded her senses with acrid smells.

Eventually, the water began to run clear and the full extent of the damage soon became apparent. Most of the skin on his hands and feet were missing, leaving only the battered and stained carbon skeleton beneath it. Bits of rocks and roots had become wedged in exposed gaps in his limbs and the dark sludge had permanently stained much of his remaining skin.

2B quietly began picking the debris from his hands and worked her way up to his yellowing, patchy hair. She washed more dirt from it and slowly lowered his head into the water, leaving only his face exposed. The more she tried to carefully scrub, the more his hair fell out in clumps and clung to her hands or washed away.

A hot, tense feeling tore at her as she looked him over again. Steam rose from his destroyed face as the water flowed through his overheating circuits. His one working eye lazily traveled away from her face and stared off into nothingness before flicking back to her. More liquid leaked from his destroyed eye as the fresh wound was reopened again as 2B shifted him around.

“2B... Ples...pleas-se don' tlet th-th ha'en agin.”

“I...”

“ _Please_.”

“All right.” She choked, gripping onto his hand tighter. “I'll always come back for you... no matter what.”

“Heh...” He smiled. “Thank...s...”

More tears fell from her eyes as she shakily nodded at him. His face blurred in her eyes and she curled forward, pressing her forehead against his.

“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...”  
“2...B...” He groaned, turning around with great effort to face her. Even more tar leaked from his wounds as he moved around as if his body simply refilled all that was washed away. He sat on his knees, water up to his chest and arms barely holding him above the water.

“I'm... glad... 'mglad I go...t 't see you... ah... 'gain...

“'M so gla...” The less damaged side of his mouth curled into a crude smile and he slowly attempted to push himself to his feet. 2B wordlessly jumped and placed her hands on his shoulders, helping him up and guiding him to shore. His legs gave way beneath him and she scooped his soaking body up and curled up in the warm sunlight.

9S let out a deep, rattling sigh as he rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eye. 2B began gingerly stroking what was left of his hair, tears welling up in her eyes until she could no longer see. She blinked them away but they were soon replaced with more and more and more.

She squeezed her eyes shut, pulling at the still-fresh wound on her face and reopening it a little. She hardly noticed the pain next to the overwhelming despair and guilt stabbing and clawing every part of her body.

9S gasped as the fresh, red liquid dripped on to the exposed skin of his chest. He brought a broken hand slowly up and, with as great care as possible, brushed the back of his finger against her lip.

“'msorry...” He wheezed.

“Don't... don't ever... ever...” Her breath hitched in her throat and she choked on her words before she let out a long wailing cry and let the tears flow freely.

She sobbed into his hair and babbled incoherent apologies and regrets as he quietly listened to every word he could. He took her hand in his and waited for her cries to subside as the last flames of life in him slowly dwindled.

“2...B...” he said faintly when she was reduced to shaking gasps and pitiful whines.

2B simply mumbled a garbled response.

“C't... hol' mu-much... lon...g long...er... I'm...”

“No, no! Please just a little bit longer. I need y— I... you...” She shut her mouth and groaned. _This isn't about me._

“O-okay... I can... I can...” She squeezed her eyes shut and slowly reached out to her sword.

“N-no... 's-s... ok-ay... I'm... g-n-n-n... gonna go...”

2B stopped and brought her hand back to his face, stroking it gently and carefully turning his head to face her. The small twinkle of light in his eye had extinguished as he looked through her.

“'M gla... got 't s-see you... a...gain.”

 

She nodded, barely holding it together.

“G'bye... 2...B...”

“Goodbye... Nines...”

He smiled again, just a simple twitch of the lips before he closed his eye one last time and went limp in her arms. Despite the ancient forest ringing with the sounds of life, 2B was all but deaf to any and every noise outside the distorted hum of 9S' Black Box slowly quieting to nothing.

It was as if a knife was stabbed in her the moment the sound finally disappeared; she pulled his body close, holding him tightly and letting her emotions flow free once again. She held him for an unknown time as the unsetting sun beat down on them, drying all but the steady flow of tears from her eyes.

 


End file.
